


Of Stories and Sinks

by Jessicamariek



Category: Final Fantasy VIII
Genre: Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-05-16
Updated: 2010-05-16
Packaged: 2017-10-09 11:38:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,643
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/86885
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jessicamariek/pseuds/Jessicamariek
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the end, Seifer and his friends must figure out what comes next. FF_Exchange2010 gift for mystiri1.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Of Stories and Sinks

**Author's Note:**

  * For [mystiri1](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mystiri1/gifts).



The only thing Seifer could think after regaining his senses was that this wasn't how the story was supposed to go.

He'd been the hero…hadn't he? The white knight in shining armor, all chaste devotion and unthinking, total protectiveness towards his lady – at least that was how it had been at the start. He wasn't sure exactly where it had gone wrong, where his focus had changed from Edea – from _Matron_, Hyne forgive him – to Ultimecia. He wasn't sure when that psychotic bitch had taken over his mind, when she had turned him into a parody of himself – there were holes in his memory, days and deeds he didn't remember. Worse still were the times he did remember, the times when he'd felt like a puppet on strings, yanked around by someone who had forgotten what love or friendship were.

But twisted though it had been, it was success, after a fashion. It was notoriety, it was recognition…it was glory. And now he'd fallen – _Lucifer in a white longcoat_, he'd thought bitterly. Beaten down, made to look a fool, shunned by the people he'd grown up with and the only place he'd ever thought of as home. And goddamned Leonhart – Squall the Wall – grouchy surly antisocial prick that he was sometimes, had gotten the glory, the girl, and a corner-office job in Garden. Somewhere along the line, everything had gotten switched around.

The bright spots in this mess, constant as they'd always been, were his two real friends, the ones who'd stuck with him through it all. They'd been the ones to pull him, gibbering and half-conscious, out of the wreckage of the Lunatic Pandora, and the ones to keep him from doing something incredibly stupid out of grief and shame when he'd come back to sanity and realized what he'd done. They'd stuck with him even after the news and rumor mills painted him as a traitor and a madman, which had to have been even harder.

Fujin's parents had left her their house on the beach north of Balamb, and the three of them had landed there, hiding from all the noise and confusion in the wake of the last Sorceress War. That first night, Seifer had woken up screaming in the middle of the night with images of Ultimecia's madness flickering through his mind, hot and disjointed like a dying dream. Fujin and Raijin had been by his side before his eyes had cleared, before the sorceress's sadistic laugh had faded from his hearing, and they had stayed with him afterward. The rest of the night was hazy in his memory - a blur of confessions and apologies and cathartic self-hatred, sharply defined forgiveness and acceptance and reassurance, all melding together into a smear of too many emotions.

He'd woken up with the sun in his eyes through the curtains and Fujin's arms around his neck, the dark-flowers-and-leather scent of her skin floating up around him, and Raijin coming back into the room with the strong, bitter tea all three of them preferred.  
"Mornin', boss. Feeling better?"  
"Mostly." Seifer sat up, wincing at the cracking noise his neck made when he turned his head. "Still feel like a dickhead, but a little less of a dickhead." Raijin laughed as he sat down and handed his friend one of the oversized, steaming mugs of tea. Fujin reached over to grab hers, and the three of them sat for a moment in silence.  
"So…now what?" Raijin said, peering out the window. "We can't just stay cooped up in here forever, ya know?"  
"Mercenaries?" Fujin said with a shrug. Seifer shook his head.  
"No way. I've had enough of adventure for now," he said. "Enough for a long time."  
"Fu, what'd your parents do out here?" Raijin asked.  
"Farming. Fishing." She paused for a moment. "Possible?"  
"What, the three of us? I'd say we could handle it. There's only so many ways we can screw it up, ya know?" All three of them laughed at that.  
"Count me in. Way less opportunities to get myself in trouble." Seifer sighed bitterly and leaned back against the wall. "You guys are fuckin' saints for putting up with my shit."  
"Posse," Fujin said firmly, laying one hand on his arm, and Raijin nodded.  
"What she said, man. We're a posse, ya know? Means we stick by each other, no matter what."   
"Even when one of us goes crazy?" Seifer asked, half smiling, and the other man shrugged.  
"Sure. Like when Fu's PMSing, ya know?" Seifer burst out laughing as Raijin went ass-over-teakettle off the bed – apparently Fujin didn't need those big stompy boots to dish out a damn powerful kick.  
__________________________

Two weeks later, Seifer was up to the elbows in grunge, grime and Hyne only knew what else, and cursing creatively under his breath about antiquated plumbing and the general process of fixing sinks, when he heard a familiar sound from the front of the house. Fujin's angry, them's-fightin'-words tone was more than enough warning for him, even if he couldn't hear exactly what she was saying. He scowled and wiped his hands on the stack of rags sitting on the floor beside him, grabbed his gunblade from the corner where it stood propped against the wall, and headed out to the front door.

He was more than a little surprised to see Leonhart standing in the yard, holstering his own weapon, and Fujin with her chakram in hand and a very nasty look on her face.  
"Alright, see, gunblade's put away now," Squall said, his eyes fixed on Fujin's weapon as she glared daggers at him.  
"MAGIC," she snapped, and he sighed.   
"Fujin, you know as well as I do that un-junctioning is a pain in the neck," he said, irritation putting an edge on the words. "For once, can you take my word for something?"  
"Stand down, Fu," Seifer said, laying one hand gently on the girl's arm, and she lowered her weapon, although her expression was still deeply suspicious. "Long time no see, Squall. What brings you here?"  
"Long story short? Garden wants the three of you back. Cid thinks you're way too good in battle for them to just let you sit here and play house, Quistis and Edea were saying something emotional about redemption and second chances, Zell says he wants a rematch…" He trailed off, shaking his head. "If you wanna come back, here's your chance. Cid did say I was supposed to get an answer before I went back, by the way." He leaned against a fencepost and crossed his arms.   
"So what's in it for you? You gave everyone else's reasons for this, what's yours?" Seifer asked, and Fujin looked at him, surprised. He couldn't really blame her - the common perception of Squall and Seifer's relationship was that they hated each other's guts. She knew about the grudging respect, given that she'd faced Squall and his friends in battle, but the fact that they were being almost polite to each other still seemed to catch her off guard. Squall just shrugged.  
"I miss sparring with someone who actually knows his shit. Beating the crap out of rookies in ten seconds flat gets boring after a while." Seifer hoped none of the others caught the slight smirk on Squall's face - the one that meant that he was remembering the usual stakes on the outcome of their duels. _Winner tops, but no crazy shit, and the first one to come loses._ It had been pretty fucking awesome, but if anyone else found out, they'd be in incredibly deep shit. "Besides, it's kinda boring without you three stirring shit up." Squall shook his head again. "So, you guys coming home or not?"   
"Give us a minute, gotta talk this over." Fujin turned on her heel and went back into the house, yelling for Raijin, and Seifer lingered a moment, staring at the other man. "Alright, Squall, cut the bullshit. What's the catch?"  
"The three of you redo the SeeD exams, _all_ of them, and you personally will definitely not be a squad leader on the field exam." The speed with which he answered suggested that Squall had been expecting that question. "They're gonna be keeping a close eye on you, Seifer, so don't fuck up while they're watching. I don't feel like having to explain to Cid that after all this, you turned around and blew it again."  
"No worries of that," he said said before heading inside, leaving Squall leaning against the fence. "And I'm looking forward to that next sparring match."

Raijin and Fujin were already standing in the kitchen, and already arguing.   
" – don't see what's so bad about the idea of going back to Garden and doing shit _right_ this time," Raijin was saying.   
"Trap," Fujin said sharply. "Stupid!"  
"Can we save the shouting-at-each-other bit for later, guys?" Seifer said with a quick smile.   
"No." Fujin shook her head. "Suspicious."  
"Alright, how's this, then?" he said. "We go back to Garden—" Seifer turned to Fujin, who was about to shout something at him "— _but_ we stay ready to run, just in case. So if shit goes downhill, we'll be long gone before they even think to look. That work for you guys?"   
"Sounds good enough to me," Raijin said, and Fujin closed her eyes and sighed.  
"Certain?" she asked.  
"Yeah," Seifer said. "Certain as it gets, at least."  
"Why?"  
"Huh? I— uh…" He sighed, and closed his eyes for a second. "Shit, call it a hunch, Fu. I think this is for real. Can't really tell why, but I do." She was silent for a moment before putting one hand over his.   
"Acceptable," she said softly, as Raijin's hand covered both of theirs.   
"Time to go home?" he said.   
"Yeah." Seifer smiled at them. "Let's see if we can get the story right this time."


End file.
